Nóra Quoirin: Window in Malaysian resort was broken, inquest hears

The room a teenage girl was staying in when she disappeared from a Malaysian jungle resort had a broken window handle, an inquest heard.

The body of 15-year-old Nóra Quoirin, from London, was found after a huge search of dense rainforest last August.

A police officer told the inquest Nóra's family reported the fault before she went missing.

The family has always insisted the window was shut before they went to sleep on the night she disappeared.

BBC News Philippines Correspondent Howard Johnson, who covered the story from Malaysia last year, said the inquest has previously heard police believe Nóra left through the window.

The family were staying in Sora House in Dusun eco-resort near Seremban, about 40 miles (65 km) south of Kuala Lumpur, when Nóra was first reported missing a day after they arrived on 3 August 2019.

Her body was found on 13 August by a group of civilian volunteers in a palm-oil plantation about 1.5 miles from the holiday home.

Negri Sembilan criminal investigations officer Ass Supt Chong Mee Chyi, said when the family checked in they contacted the management when they realised the window could not be closed securely.

Ms Chong said the family told her the resort took no action to fix the window and that the owner told them the accommodation "is very hot, so the window can be opened to allow for wind to enter".

The officer earlier told the inquest that when she first met the family the day after Nóra was reported missing, her mother, Meabh Quoirin, kept repeating "I believe that my daughter is abducted".

She told the inquest she asked about Nóra's characteristics and if she had a history of wandering off and Ms Quoirin said never before.

"The mother said it's not likely that her child would go out on her own. Her child would not go anywhere far without being accompanied by her family," she said.

The family has always insisted it was highly unlikely Nóra - who was born with holoprosencephaly, a disorder which affects brain development - would have gone off alone.

Coroner Maimoonah Aid then asked Ms Chong about what other activities the family did before 22:00, when they said they went to sleep.

"They said they were in the living room, happy and chatting, before going to sleep… I asked them, after checking in, did you go out of Sora House to go anywhere within or outside the Dusun area? They said no," she said.

The inquest will continue on 1 September.